California is proposing to add solar power to a million homes in the next 10 years, paid for by a surcharge on electricity bills equivalent to about US$0.27 a month.
The plan, proposed by the California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is intended to honor an election pledge of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to ensure that half of all new homes in the state are built with solar power facilities.
The surcharge would raise US$1 billion in 10 years for the installation program, with the state using the money to give rebates to home builders who install solar panels on new homes, and incentives for installing panels on existing homes.
Homeowners would be able to reduce their power bills and even make money by selling "unused" solar energy back to the electricity companies via two-way meters.
Electricity supply has been a sensitive issue since the energy crisis in 2001 when a free-for-all market pushed prices so low that many stations shut down leaving the state short of power. Solar power became more popular.
According to the California Energy Commission, while 900 photovoltaic systems were installed from 1998 to 2000, more than 11,000 systems were installed from 2001 to the middle of last year.
Most of the changes were to older properties, but with 150,000 new homes being built a year the greater potential led to a campaign for the state to use its "greatest asset" -- sunshine.
Tim Coyle, the senior vice president of the California Building Industry Association, said home systems could cost from US$17,000 to US$20,000 and would not pay for themselves as customers would typically pay US$120 a month to repay the purchase price and then receive about US$70 in "returns" in electricity generated.
The state grants are designed to make the system pay.
According to the draft plan, "each month the homeowner will save more money in reduced electricity charges than [will be paid] on the solar mortgage."
Together the solar installations would equal 36 new, 75-megawatt natural gas plants, and would avoid adding millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the air a year.
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
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